Red Knights: Momentum is growing to oust Glazers

Why The Red Knights would be a billion times better than the Glazers for United fans  

The Glazers have been warned by the Red Knights that the revolution is coming.

The self-styled group of wealthy and well-connected Manchester United fans trying to oust the Glazers are undeterred by the family's insistence that the club is not for sale.

Just as the Berlin Wall was torn down 20 years ago, so this band of top City figures believe the momentum is growing among supporters to sweep the despised Americans from Old Trafford in a £1billion takeover.

Merchant banker and Red Knight Keith Harris said: "Twenty odd years ago in Eastern Europe there was something which triggered the revolution when someone said 'now is the time to take down the Berlin Wall'.

"You sense, although I don't want to draw parallels for obvious reasons, that the momentum is gathering and that these fans truly mean it.

"The fans have the power to vote with their feet. We saw that 10 years ago with Barcelona where the fans said this president is causing this club to come to the brink. They voted with their feet and it caused a change. So these fans do have that power."

Harris claims the spark which ignited their revolution was the Glazers' recent £500million bond issue, which took the club's debts to a staggering £507.5million.

He says angry fans have had enough of the Glazers milking United like a cash cow to fund their American business interests.

"The fans are saying enough is enough," he said. "This protest is really taking off.

"People are reviled by what they have read about the purpose of this bond issue and the behaviour and attitude of the owners. This is truly nothing other than an attempt by them to raise money for their own purposes.

"They are not investing in a sporting organisation, which is at the top of the world tree, they are investing in something to try and get money out for their own purposes."

Harris believes the Glazers can be dragged to the negotiating table by the stick of the fans' "green and gold" campaign and the carrot of making a substantial profit on the £790million they paid for United in 2005.

"You've got to think that their businesses in America haven't done well," he said. "They can't have done and the world generally hasn't done well, and they are probably highly geared in their business activities in America.

"So if this is an opportunity for them to take the money and go, I would hope they would listen carefully to this, provided the money can be raised and I'm very confident that it can be."

The Red Knights are determined to maintain the pressure on the Glazers and yesterday followed up their meeting in London, by releasing a statement confirming their interest in mounting a takeover.

They already have the backing of the influential Manchester United Supporters Trust and have appealed for more fans to get behind them.

However their bid is at the embryonic stage and they have yet to speak to the Glazers, who have maintained they are in it for the long haul.

In their statement, the Red Knights said: "We are looking at the feasibility of putting together a proposal to be put to the Glazer family regarding the ownership of Manchester United.

"For such a proposal to be viable, it would require the involvement and support of Manchester United supporters worldwide."

Why The Red Knights would be a billion times better than the Glazers for United fans